Endemic Apistogramma cichlid described from Peru’s Departamento Loreto

A new species of cichlid has been described from a small forest lake in the department of Loreto in Peru. A paper (http://www.vertebrate-zoology.de/vz61-1/08_Vertebrate_Zoology_61-1_Roemer.pdf) describing the species has been published online at www.vertebrate-zoology.de.

Apistogramma cinilabra pair

ApThe cichlid belongs to the genus Apistogramma and has been given the name Apistogramma cinilabra. It is thought to be a representative of the Apistogramma eunotus complex within the Apistogramma regani lineage.

The authors of the paper described the species based on 35 specimens collected from a small lake in the forest, roughly 80 kilometers south of Iquitos in the wider catchment of Rio Itaya.

Name – Apistogramma cinilabra

The species epithet cinilabra is an allusion to the ash-grey lips displayed by aggressive or displaying males. “Cinis” is the Latin word for ash while “labrum” is the Latin word for lip.

Apistogramma cinilabra Appearance

Apistogramma cinilabra is a medium large Apistogramma cichlid. Males can be up to 54 mm while females reach 40 mm. This fish is highbacked and laterally compressed, and the body is of a rather robust appearance. Males and females look very different from each other.

Apistogramma cinilabra can be distinguished from other described members of its genus based on the combination of the following characteristics:

The adult males look really flamboyant. The base of the pectoral fins is bright red-orange, there are red markings on the chest and on the gill covers, and in very large specimens this red coloration is found on the cheek as well.
4-5 single scale lateral spots are visible on the longitudinal lateral band.
An upright oval spot covers most of the caudal peduncle.
The caudal peduncle is very short, just about 10 percent of SL.
In aggressive or displaying males, the lips are light ash-grey.

Apistogramma cinilabra Habitat

The authors of the paper collected their specimens in an isolated forest lake (a so called chocha) located about 1 kilometer from the road running from Iquitos to Nauta. The species has not been found anywhere else and is so far regarded as endemic to the lake, chiefly based on information from local fishermen and inspections made by the authors.

The forest surrounding the lake is dense and is believed to be primary forest, and the lake itself was smaller than 1 ha at the time of collection. The water was translucent and had a pale brownish color. The dept of the lake has been measured as up to 2.8 meters, but the authors say that it might be slightly deeper overall. The bottom of the lake was covered in roughly 50-80 cm of fallen leaves, fallen trees, twigs, branches and similar.

Water conditions measured on May 25 2010 were as follows:

Temperature 29.7 °C

pH 4.1

Oxygen 1.8 mg/l

Light 70-80 lux

Authors

Uwe Römer